By Adam Hensley | [email protected]

Iowa lost its second-consecutive game on Feb. 11, this time to Michigan State.

A few things went right for the Hawkeyes, but a good number of things went wrong.

Iowa shot 19 percent from 3-point range 

Head coach Fran McCaffery blamed the shooting slump on a combination of Spartan defense and Iowa’s coming off a double-overtime game in Minnesota.

“I think they really got up into us,” McCaffery said. “I thought they were connected. They made it hard. We did have some open looks at times from some really good shooters and they didn’t make them. That’s unfortunate.”

The Hawkeyes are 0-5 in games where they fail to shoot better than 25 percent from downtown.

Iowa’s most recent loss was the first time all season it failed to make better than 20 percent of its 3-pointers.

Iowa’s four baskets from distance tied for the season-worst.

Three of those four shots came from Nicholas Baer. Dom Uhl made the other.

Peter Jok and Jordan Bohannon combined for 11 3-point misses.

Four Spartan freshmen outscored Iowa’s five freshmen

The Hawkeyes’ freshman unit has become a crucial part of the team.

Jordan Bohannon and Isaiah Moss each earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week at different points this season, but against Michigan State, they — and the rest of their class — were outplayed by the Spartans’ first-year ballers by a long shot.

Tyler Cook, Ryan Kriener, Cordell Pemsl, Bohannon, and Moss combined to score 29 points in the loss.

Cook (13 points) and Pemsl (10 points) were the only Hawkeyes in that group to reach double figures in scoring.

Michigan State’s Miles Bridges, Joshua Langford, Nick Ward, and Cassius Winston combined for 53 points (as a team, the Spartans scored 77).

“It’s a good group of players; they play a lot, so it’s not surprising they’d be in double figures,” McCaffery said. “Every one of them is impressive. I thought Bridges, in particular, in the first half was the difference in the game.”

Bridges scored a team-high 16 points.

Rebound letdown

McCaffery put it plain and simple.

“They kicked us on the glass,” he said. “You can’t come in here and get outrebounded 46-32. That’s going to make it really hard.”

Those 32 rebounds were Iowa’s eighth-worst effort of the season.

Meanwhile, Iowa has allowed 99 rebounds during the past two games — both losses.

Minnesota snagged 20 offensive boards on Feb. 8, Michigan State grabbed 14 on Feb. 11.

The last time Iowa ended a game with a rebounding advantage was on Jan. 28 against Ohio State.

Since then, Iowa averaged 37 rebounds a game. They’ve given up 46 per game.

Iowa won the turnover battle by a long shot

The Hawkeyes, inconsistent for most of the season when it comes to takeaways and giveaways, only committed 8 turnovers.

Michigan State turned the ball over 21 times, yet Iowa still lost by 11.

“Our press was good, our changing defense was good at times,” McCaffery said.

Those 21 turnovers forced by Iowa tied for the most so far in conference play (Iowa forced 21 turnovers in a loss to Maryland on Jan. 19).

Christian Williams led the Hawkeyes with 3 steals. Peter Jok and Ahmad Wager each added 2.

Iowa also recorded more than double the steals compared to Michigan State (12 to 5).